322 – The Sickness

This. Gallons of this.

Well, it finally caught up to me. I felt it coming on as early as last Tuesday, but I kept soldiering on anyway, hoping it’d clear itself up. I’m a big fan of moderate exercise when you feel yourself starting to get sick. My very unscientific theory is that raising your core temperature and heart rate through exercise helps fight infection. I have no study to back it up, but it seems from my own experience that working out can shorten the duration and lessen the intensity of whatever you’re coming down with. That, and whiskey.

So when I felt that familiar tingle in my sinuses last week, I just kept on. I rode and ran like I normally would, although with a slight decrease in speed. It seemed to be working. I didn’t get much worse. At least, it didn’t until my all-day, race and ride pedalfest on Saturday.

By Saturday night, I had just about lost my voice. By Sunday morning, I was a full-blown wreck. This morning marks the first time I’ve had to call in sick to work since probably 2009.

Maybe it would’ve happened anyway. Maybe going down for the count was inevitable, and pushing through last week was just postponing it. But there’s no denying it’s here, now. Time for rest, and lots of tea, and maybe even a little medication. Oh, and whiskey, because it hurts so good.